Opera McGill's Movember Update

Wow, Movember has been a busy and FAST month!  I can't believe it's November, excuse me, Movember 22 already.

So much happening. I've posted an update of my face's stache, or as is popular nowadays my "mo" (I prefer stache, sounds rougher somehow) and posted a link to the site where you can donate money to Prostate Cancer, which is why I've been growing the thing all month.

I blogged about it earlier, pursuing a Process without worrying about the final Product.  I maintain this is a good outlook on life and on trying to become an artist of any sort!

A Movember update on goings on at Opera McGill:
The Turn of the Screw closed late in October.  It was a HUGE success and I was so very pleased with the work the student casts did with both the stage director, Tom Diamond, and the conductor, Andrew Bisantz.  I look forward to figuring a way for them both to return to Opera McGill for future productions.

The Broadway program "Opera McGill on Broadway" has been coaching this month, as has been Don Giovanni.  It's been fun to work on Spamalot "The Song that Goes Like This" with singers who are also singing Don Giovanni and Donna Anna.  Such talented students with such RANGE of talent here at McGill!!

The Broadway program is December 3rd at 8pm in Redpath Hall it is free and open to the public. Basically it is a class presentation of a few (okay, a lot) musical theatre numbers we've been working on this month. I think that many of my students' colleagues and professors will be astounded at their ability to sing in the musical theatre repertoire.  I'm having to practice, frankly.  This is one of the hardest programs I have ever played -- don't knock the rep until you've tried to play the rep!

Also this month, two students and I performed at the annual Viennese Ball here in Montreal. Geoffrey Penar and Hiather Darnel-Kadonaga sang some Fledermaus and some Wiener Lied for a very appreciative audience.  I played the accompaniments trying to channel my old mentor Liberace.   Lots of fun!

The semester ends with a flourish of concerts - Song Interp don't forget! - and a couple of big sing-thru's of Don Giovanni.  These are really important sing-thru's because it will be how the conductor, Gordon Gerrard, and I will decide who sings in which cast.  I'm looking forward to finally hearing the singers after casting them way back in September.

I spend December doing some auditions for Janiec Opera Company with David Gately in NYC, and then return to Montreal for the holidays to hunker down and finish the staging of Giovanni.  Rehearsals begin January 2nd!!

Brevard Week 2 & 3

We're actually into our third week here at Brevard Music Center. Time is flying. Act One and Act Two are staged for La Traviata - we've run both acts twice already. Three Penny Opera is getting staged and their music director, Beth Burrier is on campus holding musical rehearsals. Run-outs to country clubs (tonight's was at "Lake Toxaway") begin with about a dozen students, David Richardson and Dean Anthony all putting on a great preview of our season. Elizabeth has seen everyone at least once and is starting to really make her impact felt here as well.

All in all, we're feeling good and a bit "ahead of schedule". I hope it holds.

Tomorrow we dig into Act "3" - which of course, is Act 2, scene 2. I've never known it as anything else but Act 3, though. You know, Flora's party... The plan is to have it all staged by Thursday and then run the show Friday and Saturday. Orchestra readings start Sunday.

Opera classes have been focused (at least for me) on getting to know the students' abilities - all very talented, but also all at very different levels and stages. I'm getting the feeling right now they're competing with each other for some grand compliment or praise from David, Dean or I. Not sure, but it's just something I'm sensing.

Of course, it would all be better if everyone just focused on themselves and their own work and abilities instead of comparing themselves to their colleagues. I mean, really, why compare? It's frankly a false "control" group to compare yourself too. The makeup of the Janiec Opera Company has more to do with the opera repertoire for the summer and the roles offered, than anything else. If we had decided to do Don Giovanni instead of Traviata, there would be different singers here - and then that would make the comparisons for the others completely different. That's the thing - you'll always have others to compare yourself with and it's almost always a false comparison because it's ALL based on your locality.

I say don't compare. Focus on yourself, enjoy and learn from the others, and flow with the process of coachings and rehearsals.

Performances start up next week and don't stop until we're outa here. It'll be a fun ride, I'm sure!